The present invention relates to a culture observation system by which a culturing state of a culture can be observed using a microscopic image.
Together with the development in regeneration medicine-related field, the cell culturing using an incubator (culturing means) is increasing. In order to promote the cell culturing, it is required to adjust a culturing space suitable for respective cells, and in the past, incubators performing the temperature control, humidity control and atmosphere control of the culturing space have been developed.
Particularly, when the cell culturing requiring a strict CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas concentration condition as a culturing condition is performed, a CO2 incubator in which CO2 gas concentration in a culturing space can be controlled in addition to a temperature and humidity is used.
Meanwhile, when a culturing state of cells is observed, samples such as the cells cultured in the CO2 incubator are taken out from the incubator to be observed by a phase-contrast microscope, a differential interference microscope, a fluorescence microscope or the like and then the cells are returned to the incubator to be continuously cultured again.
However, when the cells are taken out from the CO2 incubator every observation of the culturing state thereof, culturing conditions for the cells vary and the cells die in some cases. Thus, it is difficult to perform proper culturing. In view of this, a culturing microscope by which cells can be observed while being continuously cultured in a CO2 incubator has been developed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-11415).
In the culturing microscope, an incubator room for culturing the cells is provided integrally with a microscope portion for observing the cells and a tray for mounting sample containers is disposed on a rotation base disposed in the incubator room. The tray has a plurality of sample mounting holes. By controlling the rotation of the rotation base, samples contained in the sample containers can be observed through an objective lens of the microscope.
In addition, an LED for illuminating and a CCD camera are mounted in the microscope room and the light from a sample is incident to the CCD camera via the objective lens, a magnification changing lens and the like. The image photographed by the CCD camera is input to a computer and displayed by a display connected to the computer in real time.
However, as described above, in the culturing microscope, positions for mounting the sample containers are provided on the rotation base in the incubator room for culturing the cells and thus the number of samples which can be cultured (actually, the number of containers containing the sample) is limited.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a device by which even a culture which can be cultured with the same conditions as those of a culture such as cells of which a culturing state is observed by a microscope can be cultured by the same device. Meanwhile, in the lower part of the culture microscope, since a microscope room for accommodating a light source is formed in the lower part of the incubator room other than the microscope, a problem occurs in that the size of the device increases by the accommodation amount of the culture.
In addition, when a culture other than an observation target culture is accommodated in the incubator room, the observation target culture is heated to a predetermined temperature by a heater (stage heater) provided in the rotation base, but the other culture, that is, the culture mounted in the incubator room other than the rotation base is heated to the predetermined temperature by a heater for controlling a temperature in the incubator room. These heaters are independently controlled to maintain the predetermined temperature. However, when the temperature on the rotation base is higher than the temperature in the incubator room, dew condensation occurs in the upper part of the sample container mounted on the rotation base and thus a problem occurs in that the culture cannot be observed.